Box Score Emmitsburg, Md. (February 10, 2024)--Mount St. Mary's raced to a 96-79 win over MAAC leading Quinnipiac at Knott Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Joshua Reaves scored a career-high 24 points while
Dakota Leffew added 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals to lead the Mount to its fourth consecutive victory. The Mount improves to 11-13 overall and 7-6 in the MAAC, and has won four in a row for the first time since a six-game win streak in January of 2022.
Mount St. Mary's placed five players in double figures for the second consecutive game, the first time that has been done by a Mount team since back-to-back wins over Fairleigh Dickinson and Saint Francis U in January of 2017. Reaves led the Mount with his career-best 24 points, finishing 9-for-15 from the field and 6-of-10 from three-point range. Leffew notched 20 points for the second consecutive game, giving him 12 games with 20 or more this season, the most in the MAAC this year.
De'Shayne Montgomery chipped in 15 points and four rebounds while
Dola Adebayo and
Ronald Jessamy posted 10 points each in the victory. Quinnipiac was paced by Matt Balanc's 19 points with Rihards Vavers added 16 and Amarri Tice 15 in the loss.
Trailing by one at the half, Quinnipiac (19-5, 11-2 MAAC) started the second half strong, building its biggest lead of the game, 53-48, with 16 minutes remaining. The Mount responded in a big way, rattling off a a 34-to-10 run to take control of the contest. The Mount scored 10 consecutive points to take the lead for good to kickstart the run. Montgomery and
Terrell Ard, Jr., each scored a basket with a
George Tinsley finish in the lane putting the Mount on top, 54-53. Leffew converted a traditional three-point play and Jessamy hit 1-of-2 at the line to make it 58-53.
After the Bobcats, who came into today's game with a 10-game win streak, the third longest current win streak in NCAA Division I. cut the Mount's lead to 58-57, the Mount had another 10-0 run to build a double-digit advantage. Leffew hit a three to open the run, Jessamy had a free throw and then scored in the paint, Montgomery added a drive, and Adebayo capped the run with an emphatic dunk for a 68-57 lead with 9:01 on the clock.
Leading 75-63, Reaves drained his sixth three of the game to start a 7-0 run. Montgomery then turned in a sensational play, using a behind-the-back save on the sidelines and putting the ball right to Leffew, who was streaking to the basket for a lay-up. Montgomery then scored on the fast break to give the Mount a 19-point lead. Quinnipiac was able trim the deficit to 10 with 1:42 remaining, but the Mount was able to close out the victory by going 8-for-10 at the line over the final minute and a half.
The 96 points are a season-high for the Mount, and the most since a 98-59 win over Sacred Heart at Knott Arena on January 21, 2022. The Mount finished the game 32-of-60 (.533) from the field and 11-of-22 (.500) from three-point range. The Mount held the Bobcats to 28.9 percent shooting in the second half and just 27-of-71 (.380) from the floor in the contest. The Mount held a 43-to-33 edge on the boards.
The Mount came out quick to start the game, taking a 24-12 lead over the first nine minutes. Reaves and Adebayo each hit a pair of three-pointers during the run that was capped by a
Terrell Ard, Jr., bucket in the pain. The Mount was able to maintain the early advantage, grabbing a 36-25 lead after Reaves hit his third three of the opening half. Quinnipiac was able to chip away at the deficit, pulling within one, 44-43, at the half. Reaves scored 17 of his career-high 24 in the first half, draining 5-of-7 from three-point range.
The Mount is back on the road for the next two games, playing at Rider on Friday, February 16, and Fairfield on Sunday, February 18.
